Dirge of Cerberus: Final Fantasy VII
Encyclopedia
is an action role-playing
third-person shooter
video game developed and published by Square Enix
in 2006 for the PlayStation 2
. It is part of the Compilation of Final Fantasy VII
metaseries, a multimedia collection set within the universe of the popular 1997 video game Final Fantasy VII
. The game is set three years after the original game's end and it focuses on one of the game's playable characters, Vincent Valentine
. In the story, Vincent is targeted by Deepground, a mysterious organization that plans to awaken the creature Omega which is able to destroy the planet. As the first Final Fantasy shooter game, the game's staff had various problems developing it although producer Yoshinori Kitase
found it challenging and added role-playing video game
elements in order to make it entertaining for new gamers of the genre.
When Dirge of Cerberus started globalization, various of its aspects were modified in order to make it more appealing. The music of the game was composed by Masashi Hamauzu
, while its two main theme songs where composed by Japanese singer and actor Gackt
. A mobile phone tie-in was also released during 2006, while in 2008, Square republished it in Japan with the updates made for the Western versions. Although the game has sold nearly one million copies overseas as of 2008, it received mixed critical response by video game publications due to its design and issues with the gameplay.
game with role-playing video game
elements. Battles occur in real-time, with the HUD
displaying information including Vincent's HP and MP, the currently selected item and the quantity thereof, and a cross-hair to aid in targeting enemies. The action is viewed from an over-the-shoulder perspective similar to Resident Evil 4
. Defeating enemies yields EXP
, at the end of each stage and can either be used to level up Vincent, increasing his statistics, or converted to gil, which can be used to purchase items and equipment upgrades at jukebox
-shaped shops scattered throughout each stage, or the shop at the end of a stage, which also allows the purchase of additional equipment.
Unlike Final Fantasy VII, where a character could equip three types of equipment (weapon, armor and accessory), Vincent's equipment consists solely of his weapon, which has amalgamated the effects of armor and accessories through customization. Players can customize three weapons through the frame: a three barrel handgun he names Cerberus, as well as a rifle
, Hydra, and a machine gun
, Griffon, which are two new weapon types and the size of the barrel (short-, regular or long-barrel, with longer barrels affording targeting of enemies that are further away at the cost of weight). Accessories include a sniper scope
, charms (such as the Cerberus charm) which can increase Vincent's defense and decrease the weight of the gun (which affects the speed of Vincent's actions) among other things, and materia, which returns from Final Fantasy VII and enables magic shots with special properties that use up MP. Ammunition capacity can be increased through upgrades.
Limit Breaks also return from the original game. Two of Vincent's Limit Breaks are available in Dirge of Cerberus: the Galian Beast, Vincent's first Limit Break, can be activated in two different ways: in the Japanese version of the game, it can be activated when the MP gauge is full. Upon transformation, the gauge slowly gets decreases and, once the gauge becomes empty, Vincent returns to human form. In the American and European versions of the game, the Galian Beast transformation can be activated through the use of an item called the "Limit Breaker". The effect lasts for around 30 seconds, upon which time the transformation reverses automatically. In all versions of the game, the transformation can be reverted by the player by pressing the L1 and R1 buttons at the same time. The other Limit Break is Chaos, Vincent's final and most powerful form, who is playable only in the final stage of the game, when it is permanently enabled.
who is the main playable character. The playable characters of Final Fantasy VII make cameo appearances, notably Cait Sith, who is controllable for a brief sequence. The game's main antagonists are Deepground who are planning to use a legendary weapon known as Omega to destroy all the planet's lifeforms. Their highest ranking elite are the , with five members appearing in the single player mode of the game, and one more in the online mode. Their leader is who is controlled by Hojo's digitized mind, who invaded his body when Weiss was in "Synaptic Net Dive" mode, trying to find a cure to the Restrictors' virus that infected him after he overthrew them. Another member is his brother, , who leads Deepground under Weiss' name; a psychotic woman skilled with swords; an emotionless girl connected to Lucrecia's personality; and , a man with enhanced strength able to transform into a large beast.
The online mode also introduces the Restrictors, the former leaders of the Deepground before Weiss took over. The Restrictors' leader governed over Deepground, implanting chips into the brain stems of all DGS recruits so they cannot turn against the group. The player character in the multiplayer mode is the exception to this, who was part of Weiss' plan to take control of the Deepground. At the end of the multiplayer mode, the entire Tsviet group managed to defeat Restrictor and take his place as the ruling force of the DGS. Though they succeeded, Restrictor's leader attempted to kill Weiss with the virus implanted within him.
The characters were designed by Tetsuya Nomura
who was helped by various assistants and given ideas by Yoshinori Kitase
. The character of Lucrecia Crescent was recreated to give her a similar appearance to the one of her son, Sephiroth, based on portraits from guidebooks and fanarts. Reeve Tuesti was also recreated due to his lack of appearances in Final Fantasy VII, and the staff wanted to explore more his personality. The design of Vincent's father, , was developed by Nakaaki, the sub character and mechanic designer. The Tsviets were designed with the idea to give a balance between other warriors such as Vincent, Cloud and Sephiroth. Nomura initially had doubts when designing Shelke's ordinary clothes in the end, but wanted to show she did not belong to Deepground anymore. The character of G was based on the Japanese singer and actor Gackt
, who made the two theme songs of the game, with the same singer also giving ideas to his appearance. Hideki Imaizumi, the producer of Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII
, liked his role to the point he wanted to expand more his character the game's prequel.
Reeve discovers that the soldiers were members of Deepground, a military organization made up of super-soldiers from Shinra. While confronting Deepground, Vincent discovers he is one of Deepground's target as he holds the Protomateria, which they want to use to control a mysterious being known as Omega. Vincent also carries inside him genes of Chaos, a beast having an unknown relation with Omega and it was inserted into Vincent's body by his lover, Lucrecia Crescent, who froze herself several years ago.
Vincent goes to the town of Nibelheim where Lucrecia studied Omega and Chaos in order to find more information of her research. While confronting Vincent, Deepground member Rosso steals his protomateria in order to control Omega. Before finishing Vincent, Rosso is ambushed by Yuffie who rescues Vincent. As Vincent returns to the WRO, he finds that Deepground has assaulted WRO's base, while the Tsviet Shelke has been betrayed by her comrades as she already completed her mission of finding Vincent's protomateria. Shelke reveals she has been connected with Lucrecia's memory allowing the WRO to complete Lucrecia's research of Omega. Based on Lucrecia's research, the group determines what Deepground has planned. Omega is a weapon, which activates when the planet senses that it is in mortal danger; the weapon causes the planet to gather the Lifestream and move to another planet, leaving the planet and everyone on it to die. Deepground plans to slaughter a large number of people at once to trick the planet into activating Omega early.
Vincent and the WRO launch a full-scale assault on Deepground's headquarters located in Midgar's remains with the assistance of various of their old comrades as well as Shelke. While Reeve's team battle the Deepground soldiers and destroying the reactors which serve as a mean to revive Omega, Vincent goes to Deepground's headquarters. During the assault, Vincent goes to the headquarters' bottom and finds the leader Weiss slumped in his throne, lifeless. As Omega starts merging with Weiss, the latter revives and confronts Vincent. It is revealed that Weiss is possessed
by Hojo; before Hojo was killed in the Mako Cannon, he uploaded his consciousness into the worldwide network, then took possession of Weiss' body while he was online. Hojo and Vincent battle to a standstill; shortly after, Nero emerges from the Lifestream and pulls Hojo into the Lifestream. Nero then merges with the weakened Weiss in order to help him fuse with Omega.
As Hojo's spirit disappears, Omega is activated. While the WRO continues to fight the remnants of Deepground, Vincent is possessed by Chaos who stands around Omega. Shelke dives inside Omega to find Lucrecia's Protomateria and then give it to Vincent alongside Lucrecia's will, in which she explains Vincent's survival made her happy. Vincent then takes control of Chaos and battles Omega. After a battle with Omega and Weiss, Omega sprouts wings and tries to escape. Vincent charges Omega, creating an explosion which destroys the latter while the former disappears. As the lifestream returns to the planet, Vincent is found at Lucrecia's crystalline coffin in the Crystal Cave, stating that both Chaos and Omega were destroyed and thanking her for being his reason he survived. In the secret ending of the game, "G", a legendary warrior related with Deepground and Shinra, awakes beneath the ruins of Midgar, finding Weiss and leaving the ruins with him.
started development, the Square Enix staff agreed that one title from Compilation of Final Fantasy VII was not enough to cover the entire world of Final Fantasy VII and so Dirge of Cerberus was conceived to embrace more aspects. When the game's genre was not discussed, publications and gamers thought that Dirge of Cerberus would be an action game
similar to the Devil May Cry
series. Character designer Tetsuya Nomura
denied it in 2004 and stated the genre would surprise gamers. Nomura also explained that as Advent Children is focused on Cloud's story after Final Fantasy VII, Dirge of Cerberus would be Vincent's story. Producer Yoshinori Kitase
first thought of making an action game of Final Fantasy as he was a fan of first-shooter
titles, and finding its development challenging. Although Kitase was a fan of action games, he decided to make a first-shooter finding the designing of the former less appealing. Due to the lack of popularity of action games in Japan, Dirge of Cerberus was incorporated with RPG
elements so that Japanese gamers would try as well as see if the action games could become more popular. In the first press conference Dirge of Cerberus was revealed, staff members thought that some fans were surprised due to the game's genre. They thought that most of the present people were gamers from the Kingdom Hearts
action role-playing game
s series, and so they focused of making its gameplay focused in shooter aspects such as the fact the character cannot directly assault the enemies.
Vincent was used as the game's protagonist due to his strong connections with other characters from Final Fantasy VII and how his background could be expanded. Additionally, since his main weapon in Final Fantasy VII was a gun, it convinced the staff to work in first-shooter elements. Vincent's transformations into different type of beasts, as well as new features, were still under development during the E3. Before Compilation of Final Fantasy started, the staff thought of using other gunfighters characters like Final Fantasy VIIs Barret Wallace
, Final Fantasy X-2
s Yuna
or Final Fantasy VIII
s Irvine Kinneas. However, after the release of Before Crisis and Advent Children, they found Vincent as the most suitable protagonist.
Dirge of Cerberus was first announced in Japan in September 2004, scheduled to be released in Japan during 2005, while its official site was revealed in April of the next year. During the next month, Nomura stated the several mysteries regarding the game would be revealed during the E3, and while he did the character designs, Dirge of Cerberus was influenced by Kitase. In the E3 from the same year, a demo of the game was not shown as the staff was still working on its controllability. The beta test program of Dirge of Cerberus was announced to have suffered a delay in September 2005 and was postponed to an indefinite date. Listed to be 60% complete, the company stated if the beta test started with the game's current state, they would not be able to fully utilize the beta testers.
The North American and European releases of Dirge of Cerberus received a major overhaul in its globalization
because the developers were not satisfied with the final Japanese version; the developers also wanted to make the game more single player oriented. Online Multiplayer support was removed due to the poor popularity of PlayOnline
in America, and lack of PS2 HDD
support in the U.S. Missions from the Multiplayer Mode were reworked into some of the missions that can be unlocked in "Extra Hard" mode, however, this contains none of the additional storyline presented in the Japanese Multiplayer Mode. The Easy Mode, which was originally featured in the Japanese version to help new gamers of shooter games, was also removed. On September 4, 2008, Square Enix released in Japan as part of their Ultimate Hits
lineup. This version contains the updates from the localization releases relabeled to the Japanese market. Audio is in English, with Japanese and English text and subtitles.
. Vocal tracks were performed and composed by Japanese singer and actor, Gackt
for the theme songs, "Longing" and "Redemption". The staff thought that Gackt would be the most suitable singer they could use in Dirge of Cerberus with Nomura finding he sticks to the setting of Final Fantasy VII. Regarding the ending theme, "Redemption", the staff's original idea was to make a ballad. Before Gackt started working in the theme songs, the staff sent him information about the game's ending to make the its respective song match. Once "Redemption" was finished, the staff was pleased with it. The CD soundtrack, Dirge of Cerberus: Final Fantasy VII Original Soundtrack, was released on February 15, 2006 in Japan. The CD consists of 2 CDs with 53 tracks. The limited edition of the soundtrack includes a "Cerberus Complete Case" deluxe box which is designed to hold the soundtrack along with the Dirge of Cerberus: Final Fantasy VII PS2 game and the limited edition of Gackt's single for the game, "Redemption". The CD single for Gackt's single for the game, "Redemption" was released on January 25, 2006. A limited edition was also released featuring two "Redemption" video clips, one being Gackt's promotional music video and one being set to animation from the game.
A supplemental soundtrack was released through the Japanese iTunes
service and the Square-Enix Music Download page on August 22, 2006. Titled Dirge of Cerberus: Final Fantasy VII Multiplayer Mode Original Sound Collections, this album consists of 27 tracks, including a handful of songs from the single player game which were not included in the official soundtrack, as well as all of the original music composed for the multiplayer mode and two new songs composed by Ryo Yamazaki
for the North American release of the game.
scored it a lower 28/40. The Famitsu review was not made available until three weeks after Dirge of Cerberus was released, unlike the Dengeki PS2 score. Famitsus review of the title hinted at a controversy between the magazine and Square Enix.
Dirge of Cerberus received similarly mixed reviews from American critics. Gaming review site GameSpot
stated that Dirge of Cerberus "does have a few interesting and even entertaining moments, but will ultimately leave action game fans and Final Fantasy fans feeling unfulfilled." Despite stating Dirge of Cerberus is not "the best use of the Final Fantasy VII universe", IGN
mentioned it is "a decent game with a strong story and occasionally-engaging rifle blasting". 1UP.com
writer Andrew Pfister gave the game a D+, with criticism focused on the enemies' intelligence, little worked scenarios and labelling the story as "boring." Reviewers from Electronic Gaming Monthly
gave it a C, with one of them, Shane Bettenhausen, giving an overview of Compilation of Final Fantasy VII, stating all the titles, including Dirge of Cerberus, were unappealing. Eurogamer
found that Dirge of Cerberus was a "risky gamble" by Square Enix for being their first shooter game and the fact that most of the recurring characters were optional in Final Fantasy VII or had small roles unlike the main protagonists who make cameo appearances.
Dirge of Cerberus received a "fair" score of three stars out of five by GameSpy
, who found its gameplay and plot interesting, but other aspects generic. Game Trailers praised the game's storyline mentioning it is "convoluted, but incredibly impressive in its scope." Although the changes to the Western versions were praised, they found it to be similar to Devil May Cry
and stating that the game was not fully revised to make good use of Vincent's new abilities. While the CGI cutscenes and designs also received positive comments, the lack of variety in enemies make the players lose their excitement while playing it. G4
's game review show, X-Play
, gave the game a more negative review with 2 stars out of 5 due to the level design, weak gunplay, the large numbers of cutscenes and bad AI. At Game Rankings
, the combined reviews for the game are currently 60%. The combined score from Metacritic
is currently 57 out of 100 based on 51 reviews.
was co-developed by Square Enix
and Ideaworks3D, and published by Square Enix. Unveiled at E3 '06, the game was released on August 22, 2006 in North America and July 26, 2007 in Japan. First only available on Amp'd mobile phones, the game was eventually also made available on Verizon's V Cast
network. It was also unveiled as a flagship title for NTT DoCoMo’s Foma 903i handset at the 2006 Tokyo Game Show. The title initially released a single player mode, with a multiplayer function launching at a later date. Lost Episode reveals a missing chapter of Dirge of Cerberus taking place between two events of the latter. It was reviewed by IGN
's Eduardo Vasconcellos who scored it a "passable" 6.7 out of 10 who found the graphics did not fit in the mobile phone and so it was unbalanced.
Action role-playing game
Action role-playing games form a loosely defined sub-genre of role-playing video games that incorporate elements of action or action-adventure games, emphasizing real-time action where the player has direct control over characters, instead of turn-based or menu-based combat...
third-person shooter
Third-person shooter
Third-person shooter is a genre of 3D action games in which the player character is visible on-screen, and the gameplay consists primarily of shooting.-Definition:...
video game developed and published by Square Enix
Square Enix
is a Japanese video game and publishing company best known for its console role-playing game franchises, which include the Final Fantasy series, the Dragon Quest series, and the action-RPG Kingdom Hearts series...
in 2006 for the PlayStation 2
PlayStation 2
The PlayStation 2 is a sixth-generation video game console manufactured by Sony as part of the PlayStation series. Its development was announced in March 1999 and it was first released on March 4, 2000, in Japan...
. It is part of the Compilation of Final Fantasy VII
Compilation of Final Fantasy VII
Compilation of Final Fantasy VII is a series of games and animated features developed by Square Enix based in the world and continuity of Final Fantasy VII...
metaseries, a multimedia collection set within the universe of the popular 1997 video game Final Fantasy VII
Final Fantasy VII
is a role-playing video game developed by Square and published by Sony Computer Entertainment as the seventh installment in the Final Fantasy series. It was originally released in 1997 for the Sony PlayStation and was re-released in 1998 for Microsoft Windows-based personal computers and in 2009...
. The game is set three years after the original game's end and it focuses on one of the game's playable characters, Vincent Valentine
Vincent Valentine
is an optional player character in Square Enix's console role-playing game Final Fantasy VII. Designed by Tetsuya Nomura, he also appears in various titles from the Compilation of Final Fantasy VII, a series of prequels of and sequels of Final Fantasy VII, and is the protagonist in the third-person...
. In the story, Vincent is targeted by Deepground, a mysterious organization that plans to awaken the creature Omega which is able to destroy the planet. As the first Final Fantasy shooter game, the game's staff had various problems developing it although producer Yoshinori Kitase
Yoshinori Kitase
is a Japanese game producer and former game director that has been working for Square Enix since April 1, 1990. He is mostly known for his work on the role-playing video game series Final Fantasy and is currently the manager of 1st Production Department....
found it challenging and added role-playing video game
Role-playing video game
Role-playing video games are a video game genre with origins in pen-and-paper role-playing games such as Dungeons & Dragons, using much of the same terminology, settings and game mechanics. The player in RPGs controls one character, or several adventuring party members, fulfilling one or many quests...
elements in order to make it entertaining for new gamers of the genre.
When Dirge of Cerberus started globalization, various of its aspects were modified in order to make it more appealing. The music of the game was composed by Masashi Hamauzu
Masashi Hamauzu
is a Japanese video game composer who was employed at Square Enix from 1996 to 2010. He is best known for his work on the Final Fantasy and SaGa series. Born into a musical family in Germany, Hamauzu was raised in Japan...
, while its two main theme songs where composed by Japanese singer and actor Gackt
Gackt
is a Japanese singer-songwriter, actor, voice actor and author. Usually referred to by his mononymous stage name, he is known for his career as a solo artist and as the former vocalist for the defunct visual kei rock band Malice Mizer....
. A mobile phone tie-in was also released during 2006, while in 2008, Square republished it in Japan with the updates made for the Western versions. Although the game has sold nearly one million copies overseas as of 2008, it received mixed critical response by video game publications due to its design and issues with the gameplay.
Gameplay
Dirge of Cerberus is a third-person shooterThird-person shooter
Third-person shooter is a genre of 3D action games in which the player character is visible on-screen, and the gameplay consists primarily of shooting.-Definition:...
game with role-playing video game
Role-playing video game
Role-playing video games are a video game genre with origins in pen-and-paper role-playing games such as Dungeons & Dragons, using much of the same terminology, settings and game mechanics. The player in RPGs controls one character, or several adventuring party members, fulfilling one or many quests...
elements. Battles occur in real-time, with the HUD
HUD (video gaming)
In video gaming, the HUD is the method by which information is visually relayed to the player as part of a game's user interface...
displaying information including Vincent's HP and MP, the currently selected item and the quantity thereof, and a cross-hair to aid in targeting enemies. The action is viewed from an over-the-shoulder perspective similar to Resident Evil 4
Resident Evil 4
Resident Evil 4, known in Japan as , is a survival horror third-person shooter video game developed by Capcom Production Studio 4 and published by multiple publishers, including Capcom, Ubisoft, Nintendo Australia, Red Ant Enterprises and THQ Asia Pacific...
. Defeating enemies yields EXP
Experience point
An experience point is a unit of measurement used in many role-playing games and role-playing video games to quantify a player character's progression through the game...
, at the end of each stage and can either be used to level up Vincent, increasing his statistics, or converted to gil, which can be used to purchase items and equipment upgrades at jukebox
Jukebox
A jukebox is a partially automated music-playing device, usually a coin-operated machine, that will play a patron's selection from self-contained media...
-shaped shops scattered throughout each stage, or the shop at the end of a stage, which also allows the purchase of additional equipment.
Unlike Final Fantasy VII, where a character could equip three types of equipment (weapon, armor and accessory), Vincent's equipment consists solely of his weapon, which has amalgamated the effects of armor and accessories through customization. Players can customize three weapons through the frame: a three barrel handgun he names Cerberus, as well as a rifle
Rifle
A rifle is a firearm designed to be fired from the shoulder, with a barrel that has a helical groove or pattern of grooves cut into the barrel walls. The raised areas of the rifling are called "lands," which make contact with the projectile , imparting spin around an axis corresponding to the...
, Hydra, and a machine gun
Machine gun
A machine gun is a fully automatic mounted or portable firearm, usually designed to fire rounds in quick succession from an ammunition belt or large-capacity magazine, typically at a rate of several hundred rounds per minute....
, Griffon, which are two new weapon types and the size of the barrel (short-, regular or long-barrel, with longer barrels affording targeting of enemies that are further away at the cost of weight). Accessories include a sniper scope
Telescopic sight
A telescopic sight, commonly called a scope, is a sighting device that is based on an optical refracting telescope. They are equipped with some form of graphic image pattern mounted in an optically appropriate position in their optical system to give an accurate aiming point...
, charms (such as the Cerberus charm) which can increase Vincent's defense and decrease the weight of the gun (which affects the speed of Vincent's actions) among other things, and materia, which returns from Final Fantasy VII and enables magic shots with special properties that use up MP. Ammunition capacity can be increased through upgrades.
Limit Breaks also return from the original game. Two of Vincent's Limit Breaks are available in Dirge of Cerberus: the Galian Beast, Vincent's first Limit Break, can be activated in two different ways: in the Japanese version of the game, it can be activated when the MP gauge is full. Upon transformation, the gauge slowly gets decreases and, once the gauge becomes empty, Vincent returns to human form. In the American and European versions of the game, the Galian Beast transformation can be activated through the use of an item called the "Limit Breaker". The effect lasts for around 30 seconds, upon which time the transformation reverses automatically. In all versions of the game, the transformation can be reverted by the player by pressing the L1 and R1 buttons at the same time. The other Limit Break is Chaos, Vincent's final and most powerful form, who is playable only in the final stage of the game, when it is permanently enabled.
Characters
Dirge of Cerberus centers around Vincent ValentineVincent Valentine
is an optional player character in Square Enix's console role-playing game Final Fantasy VII. Designed by Tetsuya Nomura, he also appears in various titles from the Compilation of Final Fantasy VII, a series of prequels of and sequels of Final Fantasy VII, and is the protagonist in the third-person...
who is the main playable character. The playable characters of Final Fantasy VII make cameo appearances, notably Cait Sith, who is controllable for a brief sequence. The game's main antagonists are Deepground who are planning to use a legendary weapon known as Omega to destroy all the planet's lifeforms. Their highest ranking elite are the , with five members appearing in the single player mode of the game, and one more in the online mode. Their leader is who is controlled by Hojo's digitized mind, who invaded his body when Weiss was in "Synaptic Net Dive" mode, trying to find a cure to the Restrictors' virus that infected him after he overthrew them. Another member is his brother, , who leads Deepground under Weiss' name; a psychotic woman skilled with swords; an emotionless girl connected to Lucrecia's personality; and , a man with enhanced strength able to transform into a large beast.
The online mode also introduces the Restrictors, the former leaders of the Deepground before Weiss took over. The Restrictors' leader governed over Deepground, implanting chips into the brain stems of all DGS recruits so they cannot turn against the group. The player character in the multiplayer mode is the exception to this, who was part of Weiss' plan to take control of the Deepground. At the end of the multiplayer mode, the entire Tsviet group managed to defeat Restrictor and take his place as the ruling force of the DGS. Though they succeeded, Restrictor's leader attempted to kill Weiss with the virus implanted within him.
The characters were designed by Tetsuya Nomura
Tetsuya Nomura
is a Japanese video game director and character designer working for Square Enix , best known for his work on both the Final Fantasy and Kingdom Hearts series.-Time before Square:Nomura was born in Kōchi, Japan...
who was helped by various assistants and given ideas by Yoshinori Kitase
Yoshinori Kitase
is a Japanese game producer and former game director that has been working for Square Enix since April 1, 1990. He is mostly known for his work on the role-playing video game series Final Fantasy and is currently the manager of 1st Production Department....
. The character of Lucrecia Crescent was recreated to give her a similar appearance to the one of her son, Sephiroth, based on portraits from guidebooks and fanarts. Reeve Tuesti was also recreated due to his lack of appearances in Final Fantasy VII, and the staff wanted to explore more his personality. The design of Vincent's father, , was developed by Nakaaki, the sub character and mechanic designer. The Tsviets were designed with the idea to give a balance between other warriors such as Vincent, Cloud and Sephiroth. Nomura initially had doubts when designing Shelke's ordinary clothes in the end, but wanted to show she did not belong to Deepground anymore. The character of G was based on the Japanese singer and actor Gackt
Gackt
is a Japanese singer-songwriter, actor, voice actor and author. Usually referred to by his mononymous stage name, he is known for his career as a solo artist and as the former vocalist for the defunct visual kei rock band Malice Mizer....
, who made the two theme songs of the game, with the same singer also giving ideas to his appearance. Hideki Imaizumi, the producer of Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII
Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII
is an action role-playing game developed by Square Enix for the PlayStation Portable. First released in 2007, the game is a prequel to the video game Final Fantasy VII and is also the sixth installment in metaseries Compilation of Final Fantasy VII which includes products related to the game...
, liked his role to the point he wanted to expand more his character the game's prequel.
Story
The game begins during the climax of Final Fantasy VII. As Vincent and Yuffie Kisaragi help to evacuate Midgar which is about to be destroyed by a meteor summoned by Sephiroth, Vincent finds Hojo, an antagonist from the first game, slumped at the controls of a Mako Cannon. The cannon explodes, destroying Hojo and forcing Vincent to escape. Three years later, Vincent is in the city of Kalm, which is attacked by mysterious soldiers, who capture some of the citizens and kill the rest. Vincent, with the help of his former comrade Reeve Tuesti and the World Regenesis Organization (WRO), an organization dedicated to helping the planet recover from the events of Final Fantasy VII, fights the soldiers and forces them to retreat.Reeve discovers that the soldiers were members of Deepground, a military organization made up of super-soldiers from Shinra. While confronting Deepground, Vincent discovers he is one of Deepground's target as he holds the Protomateria, which they want to use to control a mysterious being known as Omega. Vincent also carries inside him genes of Chaos, a beast having an unknown relation with Omega and it was inserted into Vincent's body by his lover, Lucrecia Crescent, who froze herself several years ago.
Vincent goes to the town of Nibelheim where Lucrecia studied Omega and Chaos in order to find more information of her research. While confronting Vincent, Deepground member Rosso steals his protomateria in order to control Omega. Before finishing Vincent, Rosso is ambushed by Yuffie who rescues Vincent. As Vincent returns to the WRO, he finds that Deepground has assaulted WRO's base, while the Tsviet Shelke has been betrayed by her comrades as she already completed her mission of finding Vincent's protomateria. Shelke reveals she has been connected with Lucrecia's memory allowing the WRO to complete Lucrecia's research of Omega. Based on Lucrecia's research, the group determines what Deepground has planned. Omega is a weapon, which activates when the planet senses that it is in mortal danger; the weapon causes the planet to gather the Lifestream and move to another planet, leaving the planet and everyone on it to die. Deepground plans to slaughter a large number of people at once to trick the planet into activating Omega early.
Vincent and the WRO launch a full-scale assault on Deepground's headquarters located in Midgar's remains with the assistance of various of their old comrades as well as Shelke. While Reeve's team battle the Deepground soldiers and destroying the reactors which serve as a mean to revive Omega, Vincent goes to Deepground's headquarters. During the assault, Vincent goes to the headquarters' bottom and finds the leader Weiss slumped in his throne, lifeless. As Omega starts merging with Weiss, the latter revives and confronts Vincent. It is revealed that Weiss is possessed
Spiritual possession
Spirit possession is a paranormal or supernatural event in which it is said that spirits, gods, demons, animas, extraterrestrials, or other disincarnate or extraterrestrial entities take control of a human body, resulting in noticeable changes in health and behaviour...
by Hojo; before Hojo was killed in the Mako Cannon, he uploaded his consciousness into the worldwide network, then took possession of Weiss' body while he was online. Hojo and Vincent battle to a standstill; shortly after, Nero emerges from the Lifestream and pulls Hojo into the Lifestream. Nero then merges with the weakened Weiss in order to help him fuse with Omega.
As Hojo's spirit disappears, Omega is activated. While the WRO continues to fight the remnants of Deepground, Vincent is possessed by Chaos who stands around Omega. Shelke dives inside Omega to find Lucrecia's Protomateria and then give it to Vincent alongside Lucrecia's will, in which she explains Vincent's survival made her happy. Vincent then takes control of Chaos and battles Omega. After a battle with Omega and Weiss, Omega sprouts wings and tries to escape. Vincent charges Omega, creating an explosion which destroys the latter while the former disappears. As the lifestream returns to the planet, Vincent is found at Lucrecia's crystalline coffin in the Crystal Cave, stating that both Chaos and Omega were destroyed and thanking her for being his reason he survived. In the secret ending of the game, "G", a legendary warrior related with Deepground and Shinra, awakes beneath the ruins of Midgar, finding Weiss and leaving the ruins with him.
Development
When Final Fantasy VII: Advent ChildrenFinal Fantasy VII: Advent Children
is a 2005 Japanese computer-animated science fiction film directed by Tetsuya Nomura, co-directed by Takeshi Nozue, and produced by Yoshinori Kitase and Shinji Hashimoto. It was written by Kazushige Nojima and the music was composed by Nobuo Uematsu...
started development, the Square Enix staff agreed that one title from Compilation of Final Fantasy VII was not enough to cover the entire world of Final Fantasy VII and so Dirge of Cerberus was conceived to embrace more aspects. When the game's genre was not discussed, publications and gamers thought that Dirge of Cerberus would be an action game
Action game
Action game is a video game genre that emphasizes physical challenges, including hand–eye coordination and reaction-time. The genre includes diverse subgenres such as fighting games, shooter games, and platform games, which are widely considered the most important action games, though some...
similar to the Devil May Cry
Devil May Cry
is an action game developed and published by Capcom, released in 2001 for the PlayStation 2. Although it is the first game in the series of the same name, the events in Devil May Cry are second in the series storyline's chronological order, taking place after Devil May Cry 3: Dante's Awakening and...
series. Character designer Tetsuya Nomura
Tetsuya Nomura
is a Japanese video game director and character designer working for Square Enix , best known for his work on both the Final Fantasy and Kingdom Hearts series.-Time before Square:Nomura was born in Kōchi, Japan...
denied it in 2004 and stated the genre would surprise gamers. Nomura also explained that as Advent Children is focused on Cloud's story after Final Fantasy VII, Dirge of Cerberus would be Vincent's story. Producer Yoshinori Kitase
Yoshinori Kitase
is a Japanese game producer and former game director that has been working for Square Enix since April 1, 1990. He is mostly known for his work on the role-playing video game series Final Fantasy and is currently the manager of 1st Production Department....
first thought of making an action game of Final Fantasy as he was a fan of first-shooter
First-person shooter
First-person shooter is a video game genre that centers the gameplay on gun and projectile weapon-based combat through first-person perspective; i.e., the player experiences the action through the eyes of a protagonist. Generally speaking, the first-person shooter shares common traits with other...
titles, and finding its development challenging. Although Kitase was a fan of action games, he decided to make a first-shooter finding the designing of the former less appealing. Due to the lack of popularity of action games in Japan, Dirge of Cerberus was incorporated with RPG
Role-playing video game
Role-playing video games are a video game genre with origins in pen-and-paper role-playing games such as Dungeons & Dragons, using much of the same terminology, settings and game mechanics. The player in RPGs controls one character, or several adventuring party members, fulfilling one or many quests...
elements so that Japanese gamers would try as well as see if the action games could become more popular. In the first press conference Dirge of Cerberus was revealed, staff members thought that some fans were surprised due to the game's genre. They thought that most of the present people were gamers from the Kingdom Hearts
Kingdom Hearts
is an action role-playing game developed and published by Square in 2002 for the PlayStation 2 video game console. The first game in the Kingdom Hearts series, it is the result of a collaboration between Square Enix and The Walt Disney Company. The game combines characters and settings from Disney...
action role-playing game
Action role-playing game
Action role-playing games form a loosely defined sub-genre of role-playing video games that incorporate elements of action or action-adventure games, emphasizing real-time action where the player has direct control over characters, instead of turn-based or menu-based combat...
s series, and so they focused of making its gameplay focused in shooter aspects such as the fact the character cannot directly assault the enemies.
Vincent was used as the game's protagonist due to his strong connections with other characters from Final Fantasy VII and how his background could be expanded. Additionally, since his main weapon in Final Fantasy VII was a gun, it convinced the staff to work in first-shooter elements. Vincent's transformations into different type of beasts, as well as new features, were still under development during the E3. Before Compilation of Final Fantasy started, the staff thought of using other gunfighters characters like Final Fantasy VIIs Barret Wallace
Barret Wallace
is a player character in Square Enix's role playing game Final Fantasy VII. Created by character designer Tetsuya Nomura, he has since appeared in the CGI film sequel, Final Fantasy VII Advent Children as well as other games and media in the Compilation of Final Fantasy VII series...
, Final Fantasy X-2
Final Fantasy X-2
is a console role-playing game developed and published by Square for Sony's PlayStation 2. It was released in 2003 and is the sequel to the best-selling 2001 game Final Fantasy X...
s Yuna
Yuna (Final Fantasy)
is a player character in the Final Fantasy series. She is the female protagonist of Final Fantasy X and the main protagonist of the sequel Final Fantasy X-2. She was designed by Tetsuya Nomura and voiced by Hedy Burress and Mayuko Aoki in the English and Japanese versions, respectively...
or Final Fantasy VIII
Final Fantasy VIII
is a role-playing video game released for the PlayStation in 1999 and for Windows-based personal computers in 2000. It was developed and published by Square as the Final Fantasy series' eighth title, removing magic point-based spell-casting and the first title to consistently use realistically...
s Irvine Kinneas. However, after the release of Before Crisis and Advent Children, they found Vincent as the most suitable protagonist.
Dirge of Cerberus was first announced in Japan in September 2004, scheduled to be released in Japan during 2005, while its official site was revealed in April of the next year. During the next month, Nomura stated the several mysteries regarding the game would be revealed during the E3, and while he did the character designs, Dirge of Cerberus was influenced by Kitase. In the E3 from the same year, a demo of the game was not shown as the staff was still working on its controllability. The beta test program of Dirge of Cerberus was announced to have suffered a delay in September 2005 and was postponed to an indefinite date. Listed to be 60% complete, the company stated if the beta test started with the game's current state, they would not be able to fully utilize the beta testers.
The North American and European releases of Dirge of Cerberus received a major overhaul in its globalization
Localization of Square Enix video games
The Japanese video game company Square Enix translates most of its video games for North America and the PAL region.- Staff :Enix did not initially have a localization department and outsourced its Western releases to translators who had no close contact with the original development teams...
because the developers were not satisfied with the final Japanese version; the developers also wanted to make the game more single player oriented. Online Multiplayer support was removed due to the poor popularity of PlayOnline
PlayOnline
PlayOnline is an online gaming service created by Square Co. , and is used as a hub for many of the online PC, PlayStation 2 and Xbox 360 games the company publishes. Currently, the only game supported by the service is Final Fantasy XI...
in America, and lack of PS2 HDD
PlayStation 2 Expansion Bay
The PlayStation 2 Expansion Bay is a 3.5" drive bay introduced with the model 30000 and 50000 PlayStation 2 designed for the network adaptor and internal hard disk drive...
support in the U.S. Missions from the Multiplayer Mode were reworked into some of the missions that can be unlocked in "Extra Hard" mode, however, this contains none of the additional storyline presented in the Japanese Multiplayer Mode. The Easy Mode, which was originally featured in the Japanese version to help new gamers of shooter games, was also removed. On September 4, 2008, Square Enix released in Japan as part of their Ultimate Hits
Ultimate Hits
The Japanese video game company Square Enix publishes budget range titles under three labels: , "Legendary Hits", and "Eternal Hits".- Ultimate Hits :...
lineup. This version contains the updates from the localization releases relabeled to the Japanese market. Audio is in English, with Japanese and English text and subtitles.
Audio
The soundtrack for the game was composed by Masashi HamauzuMasashi Hamauzu
is a Japanese video game composer who was employed at Square Enix from 1996 to 2010. He is best known for his work on the Final Fantasy and SaGa series. Born into a musical family in Germany, Hamauzu was raised in Japan...
. Vocal tracks were performed and composed by Japanese singer and actor, Gackt
Gackt
is a Japanese singer-songwriter, actor, voice actor and author. Usually referred to by his mononymous stage name, he is known for his career as a solo artist and as the former vocalist for the defunct visual kei rock band Malice Mizer....
for the theme songs, "Longing" and "Redemption". The staff thought that Gackt would be the most suitable singer they could use in Dirge of Cerberus with Nomura finding he sticks to the setting of Final Fantasy VII. Regarding the ending theme, "Redemption", the staff's original idea was to make a ballad. Before Gackt started working in the theme songs, the staff sent him information about the game's ending to make the its respective song match. Once "Redemption" was finished, the staff was pleased with it. The CD soundtrack, Dirge of Cerberus: Final Fantasy VII Original Soundtrack, was released on February 15, 2006 in Japan. The CD consists of 2 CDs with 53 tracks. The limited edition of the soundtrack includes a "Cerberus Complete Case" deluxe box which is designed to hold the soundtrack along with the Dirge of Cerberus: Final Fantasy VII PS2 game and the limited edition of Gackt's single for the game, "Redemption". The CD single for Gackt's single for the game, "Redemption" was released on January 25, 2006. A limited edition was also released featuring two "Redemption" video clips, one being Gackt's promotional music video and one being set to animation from the game.
A supplemental soundtrack was released through the Japanese iTunes
ITunes
iTunes is a media player computer program, used for playing, downloading, and organizing digital music and video files on desktop computers. It can also manage contents on iPod, iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad....
service and the Square-Enix Music Download page on August 22, 2006. Titled Dirge of Cerberus: Final Fantasy VII Multiplayer Mode Original Sound Collections, this album consists of 27 tracks, including a handful of songs from the single player game which were not included in the official soundtrack, as well as all of the original music composed for the multiplayer mode and two new songs composed by Ryo Yamazaki
Ryo Yamazaki
is a Japanese synthesizer programmer and occasional composer of video game music currently working at Square Enix.-Biography:Yamazaki has created several compositions for Front Mission 4, Front Mission Online, and Dirge of Cerberus: Final Fantasy VII...
for the North American release of the game.
Reception
Dirge of Cerberus: Final Fantasy VII managed to ship 392,000 units in its first week. On August 31, 2008, Square Enix announce that 460,000 units were sold in North America and 270,000 units in Europe. As of November 2008, over 513,000 copies of the game have been sold in Japan alone. In July 2006, Dirge of Cerberus was in Sony's Gold category of top selling video games with the Gold category showing games that sold from 500,000 units to 1 million. Upon its release in Japan, the game received mixed reviews. Gaming magazine Dengeki PS2 rewarded the game with a 313/400 while FamitsuFamitsu
is a line of Japanese video game magazines published by Enterbrain, Inc. and Tokuma. Currently, there are five Famitsū magazines: Shūkan Famitsū, Famitsū PS3 + PSP, Famitsū Xbox 360, Famitsū Wii+DS, and Famitsū Wave DVD...
scored it a lower 28/40. The Famitsu review was not made available until three weeks after Dirge of Cerberus was released, unlike the Dengeki PS2 score. Famitsus review of the title hinted at a controversy between the magazine and Square Enix.
Dirge of Cerberus received similarly mixed reviews from American critics. Gaming review site GameSpot
GameSpot
GameSpot is a video gaming website that provides news, reviews, previews, downloads, and other information. The site was launched in May 1, 1996 by Pete Deemer, Vince Broady and Jon Epstein. It was purchased by ZDNet, a brand which was later purchased by CNET Networks. CBS Interactive, which...
stated that Dirge of Cerberus "does have a few interesting and even entertaining moments, but will ultimately leave action game fans and Final Fantasy fans feeling unfulfilled." Despite stating Dirge of Cerberus is not "the best use of the Final Fantasy VII universe", IGN
IGN
IGN is an entertainment website that focuses on video games, films, music and other media. IGN's main website comprises several specialty sites or "channels", each occupying a subdomain and covering a specific area of entertainment...
mentioned it is "a decent game with a strong story and occasionally-engaging rifle blasting". 1UP.com
1UP.com
1UP.com is a video game website owned by IGN Entertainment, a division of News Corporation. Previously, the site was owned by Ziff Davis before being sold to UGO Entertainment in 2009....
writer Andrew Pfister gave the game a D+, with criticism focused on the enemies' intelligence, little worked scenarios and labelling the story as "boring." Reviewers from Electronic Gaming Monthly
Electronic Gaming Monthly
Electronic Gaming Monthly is a bimonthly American video game magazine. It has been published by EGM Media, LLC. since relaunching in April of 2010. Its previous run, which ended in January 2009, was published by Ziff Davis...
gave it a C, with one of them, Shane Bettenhausen, giving an overview of Compilation of Final Fantasy VII, stating all the titles, including Dirge of Cerberus, were unappealing. Eurogamer
Eurogamer
Eurogamer is a Brighton-based website focused on video games news, reviews, previews and interviews. It is operated by Eurogamer Network Ltd., which was formed in 1999 by brothers Rupert and Nick Loman. Eurogamer has grown to become one of the most important European-based websites focused on...
found that Dirge of Cerberus was a "risky gamble" by Square Enix for being their first shooter game and the fact that most of the recurring characters were optional in Final Fantasy VII or had small roles unlike the main protagonists who make cameo appearances.
Dirge of Cerberus received a "fair" score of three stars out of five by GameSpy
GameSpy
GameSpy Industries, Inc., known simply as GameSpy, is a division of IGN Entertainment, which operates a network of game websites and provides online video game-related services and software. GameSpy dates back to the 1996 release of an internet Quake server search program named QSpy. The current...
, who found its gameplay and plot interesting, but other aspects generic. Game Trailers praised the game's storyline mentioning it is "convoluted, but incredibly impressive in its scope." Although the changes to the Western versions were praised, they found it to be similar to Devil May Cry
Devil May Cry
is an action game developed and published by Capcom, released in 2001 for the PlayStation 2. Although it is the first game in the series of the same name, the events in Devil May Cry are second in the series storyline's chronological order, taking place after Devil May Cry 3: Dante's Awakening and...
and stating that the game was not fully revised to make good use of Vincent's new abilities. While the CGI cutscenes and designs also received positive comments, the lack of variety in enemies make the players lose their excitement while playing it. G4
G4 (TV channel)
G4, also known as G4 TV, is an American cable- and satellite-television channel originally geared primarily toward young adult viewers, originally based on the world of video games...
's game review show, X-Play
X-Play
X-Play is a TV program about video games, known for its reviews and comedy skits...
, gave the game a more negative review with 2 stars out of 5 due to the level design, weak gunplay, the large numbers of cutscenes and bad AI. At Game Rankings
Game Rankings
GameRankings is a website that collects review scores from both offline and online sources to give an average rating. It indexes over 315,000 articles relating to more than 14,500 games.GameRankings is owned by CBS Interactive...
, the combined reviews for the game are currently 60%. The combined score from Metacritic
Metacritic
Metacritic.com is a website that collates reviews of music albums, games, movies, TV shows and DVDs. For each product, a numerical score from each review is obtained and the total is averaged. An excerpt of each review is provided along with a hyperlink to the source. Three colour codes of Green,...
is currently 57 out of 100 based on 51 reviews.
Mobile phone tie-in
is a Japanese third person shooter role-playing video gameRole-playing video game
Role-playing video games are a video game genre with origins in pen-and-paper role-playing games such as Dungeons & Dragons, using much of the same terminology, settings and game mechanics. The player in RPGs controls one character, or several adventuring party members, fulfilling one or many quests...
was co-developed by Square Enix
Square Enix
is a Japanese video game and publishing company best known for its console role-playing game franchises, which include the Final Fantasy series, the Dragon Quest series, and the action-RPG Kingdom Hearts series...
and Ideaworks3D, and published by Square Enix. Unveiled at E3 '06, the game was released on August 22, 2006 in North America and July 26, 2007 in Japan. First only available on Amp'd mobile phones, the game was eventually also made available on Verizon's V Cast
V CAST
V CAST is a 3G EV-DO network created by Verizon Wireless to deliver audio, video, and entertainment content. The typical download speed is between 800 kilobits and 1.4 megabits per second with burst speeds of up to 3.1 megabits per second...
network. It was also unveiled as a flagship title for NTT DoCoMo’s Foma 903i handset at the 2006 Tokyo Game Show. The title initially released a single player mode, with a multiplayer function launching at a later date. Lost Episode reveals a missing chapter of Dirge of Cerberus taking place between two events of the latter. It was reviewed by IGN
IGN
IGN is an entertainment website that focuses on video games, films, music and other media. IGN's main website comprises several specialty sites or "channels", each occupying a subdomain and covering a specific area of entertainment...
's Eduardo Vasconcellos who scored it a "passable" 6.7 out of 10 who found the graphics did not fit in the mobile phone and so it was unbalanced.